Sorry, We Don’t Take Obamacare

[mia]

AMY MOSES and her circle of self-employed small-business owners were supporters of President Obama and the Affordable Care Act. They bought policies on the newly created New York State exchange. But when they called doctors and hospitals in Manhattan to schedule appointments, they were dismayed to be turned away again and again with a common refrain: “We don’t take Obamacare,” the umbrella epithet for the hundreds of plans offered through the president’s signature health legislation.

“Anyone who is on these plans knows it’s a two-tiered system,” said Ms. Moses, describing the emotional sting of those words to a successful entrepreneur.

“Anytime one of us needs a doctor,” she continued, “we send out an alert: ‘Does anyone have anyone on an exchange plan that does mammography or colonoscopy? Who takes our insurance?’ It’s really a problem.”

The goal of the Affordable Care Act, which took effect in 2013, was to provide insurance to tens of millions of uninsured or under-insured Americans, through online state and federal marketplaces offering an array of policies. By many measures, the law has been a success: The number of uninsured Americans has dropped by about half, with 20 million more people gaining coverage. It has also created a host of new policies for self-employed people like Ms. Moses, who previously had insurance but whose old plans were no longer offered.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/15/sunday-review/sorry-we-dont-take-obamacare.html?_r=0

[Kittycat]

1. Health Insurance isn't Healthcare

Nor does it make it affordable.

[valerief]

3. There's no such things as health insurance. It's medical insurance. "Sometimes" it pays

for medical care by doctors and for medicine. It doesn't pay for health. I wish we could call it what it is.

[tularetom]

12. Hell, it's not "affordable" and it doesn't provide "care"

It ought to be called "Obamasurance".

What a joke it turned out to be.

[valerief]

14. I'm talking about all the insurance people call "healthcare insurance." I'm sick of the misnomers.

I have mixed feelings about the ACA. I wouldn't have medical insurance without it, but, yes, affordable is misleading, especially with all the high deductibles and co-pays. I wish we were like the civilized countries that provide taxpayer-paid medical care. We get 7 wars instead.

[Jackie Wilson Said]

26. Yeah, I hear that a lot from right wingers.

[xocet]

64. Since you are hearing it from both sides, maybe figuring out what it means would be important.

Any ideas?

[sweetapogee]

88. we just need

to work a few kinks out of the system, no biggie.

[Mika]

5. Health insurance is how France and Germany do it.

The entire insurance and health system are mandated not for profit.

[enlightenment]

18. And strictly regulated by the respective governments

in terms of cost and coverage.

There is a world of difference between those systems and the joke that is US healthcare.

[moonbabygo]

20. right on

If insurance companies and hospitals were not allowed to make a profit that would fix so many things.

Make enough money to pay employees a livable wage, buy h/w etc. , but no share holders

[Hoyt]

56. Folks could sign with Kaiser, but they don't. A number of cooperative ACA plans went belly up.

Today, with the ACA loss-ratio, the profit part is around 7% of the premium. Nix that, and you'd still have hefty premiums.

We need to solve this problem, but it is much deeper than the insurance companies. In fact, until the structural problem is solved -- as well as patient expectations -- that 7% is not much considering the risk insurance companies are taking in this environment.

[fasttense]

67. The co-ops went bankrupt when congress turned grants into loans

Money was suppose to be set aside for grants for healthcare co-ops. But RepubliCONS managed to turn them into loans instead and it ensured most of them went belly up.

There is no reason for healthcare CEOs to be making hundreds of millions of dollars. For profit healthcare is exploitive and dangerous.

[Hoyt]

69. They couldn't make it work without being able to raise capital. That's sad, but a fact.

I agree on CEO salaries. But, if you paid them only a dollar an hour, it wouldn't make 2 cents difference in peoples' premiums.

[Silver_Witch]

6. +1000

[ViseGrip]

2. Not 1 doctor in my county takes Obamacare! Thank you Bernie for the 'community health centers'

we have to use. Thank you for the 11 billion added to the ACA, Hillary tried to say you had nothing to do with. My county just built three more of these 'centers'. Now I have 11 clinics I can go to, with or without an appt.! Again, thank you Bernie, while doctors are not complying.

They cannot handle another set of paperwork! That is why!

DOCTORS ARE BEGGING FOR A SINGLE PAYER SYSTEM. THEN THEY CAN ACCEPT YOU. Now....too much different paperwork, rules from all private ins. co. They can handle Medicare. I have had these conversations with doctors over the years, even before the ACA, they could not handle the patient load, and paperwork. The ACA is a whole new set of paperwork for them. They just can't handle it.

Check out Physicians for a National Health Program
www.pnhp.org

[savalez]

31. You're driving from Florida to Vermont

to visit a Community Health Center?

[truebluegreen]

41. Learn something:

http://bphc.hrsa.gov/about/healthcentersaca/

http://www.nachc.com/healthreform.cfm

From TPM http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/sanders-role-in-the-affordable-care-act

Sanders’ advocacy of the community health centers is well-documented. The $11 billion the centers ultimately received were among his conditions for his vote on the final bill, which hinged on every Democratic senator’s support to pass since Republicans had eventually all come out against the legislation.
<snip>
Having lost the battles on the public option and single-payer, Sanders put his full weight behind the community health centers provision.

“He said to Harry Reid, ‘I’m not going to vote for this bill unless I get a gargantuan sum of money for community health centers,’” McDonough told TPM.

[savalez]

58. So your answer is "no".

Last edited Sun May 15, 2016, 03:18 PM - Edit history (1)

I'm not familiar with Florida's health care system, just Vermont's. No need to be snarky with the "learn something" by the way.

Thank goodness the Dems passed the ACA or those centers you relied on would not have existed. Expanded medicare is also in the ACA but I understand you have a RW governor who declined it. I'm sure you're working hard to vote him out.

[truebluegreen]

73. The poster you responded to did not answer.

Maybe he or she was put off by your snarkiness. My snarkiness was in response to your apparent assumption that Bernie has only done things in Vermont. Thank goodness, as you put it, that he insisted on the ACA containing the aforementioned health clinics, and funding them well.

[IronLionZion]

53. community health centers are a very important addition

to the plan and it is awesome that Bernie got it included. The independent family doctor shortage started long before the PPACA and America has been trending that way for some time. The AMA isn't helping and they are still enforcing limits to Med school enrollments without any exceptions for rural or low-income urban communities. Assholes.

There are ways to get more doctors in areas where they are needed. Either by opening up more spots for med school and residency programs, or more funding for education for low-income students, or visas for immigrants who will practice in underserved communities or any other incentives like student loan forgiveness in exchange for service in poor communities.

There are a lot of newly graduated nurses (since the news was claiming there was a shortage) who need their first nursing job as a way to get experience. Community clinics can be a great way for new nurses to start their careers.

[valerief]

4. I had to get a more expensive ACA plan so that I could have coverage by my doctor.

Cuz fuckin' America.

[beachbum bob]

7. I never heard of a health insurance policy issued under the name "obamacare"...last time I looked

you able to purchase private health insurance under ACA guidelines and its not an ACA issue if local doctors and hospitals won't cover policy holders....you need to change carriers....we have the same problem with insurance we pay for thru the state for state workers...some places take it, others don't

[Quackers]

23. Obama himself called it Obamacare. nt

[tabasco]

37. Link?

Thank you.

[Quackers]

38. Sure. I thought everybody had heard him say it before.

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2012/08/obama-embraces-the-term-obamacare/1#.VzigttT3arU

http://www.politico.com/story/2014/02/barack-obama-obamacare-103589

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/post/president-obama-embraces-obamacare-label-but-why/2012/03/25/gIQARJ5qaS_blog.html

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/video/president-obama-call-obamacare-14309723

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2014/05/20/obama-in-five-years-it-will-no-longer-be-called-obamacare/

[Egnever]

59. That doesn't change the fact the policy you purchase is typically from a standard insurance carrier

in New York someone like Care connect.

This story is bullshit.

[Quackers]

70. You don't believe the ACA has limited people's options? nt

[Egnever]

72. Not for a second

The people buying from the exchange had no options before the ACA. You could not buy a reasonably priced insurance plan before the ACA unless you got it through a job that had group discounts.

[Quackers]

87. Tell it to these people.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10027832805

What good is health insurance if you can't afford to pay the deductibles and you're limited to only a few doctors. Now I'm not saying some people haven't benefited from it, but there are a lot of people that are limited on what they can do with it.

[Egnever]

93. Pretty much every insurance has deductibles

If you want to argue there should never ever be any deductible.. Well I would certainly like that but ACA plans are not unique in having deductibles.

My insurance is not an ACA plan it is fairly decent insurance though a school district and we have deductibles.

It doesn't mean if you go see the doctor for a check up you are paying the whole visit cost until you meet the deductible. Preventative care on ACA plans have no deductible.

Not seeing where the difference is.

[CompanyFirstSergeant]

8. If it's affordable....

...it's crap insurance.

Covers nothing.

[Jackie Wilson Said]

27. By ACA law ALL health insurance must cover almost everything now.

That some prick asshole selfish physicians wont take it, I say yank their fucking license.

[CompanyFirstSergeant]

28. The basic 'affordable' plan....

....has a $3,500 deductible.

[Jackie Wilson Said]

29. Which has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with what is covered.

sit out the election, let drumpf take over

we deserve it i guess

[CompanyFirstSergeant]

30. Right.....

NOTHING is covered until you spend $3,500

That's what I said.... covers nothing.

sit out the election, let drumpf take over <-------- How did he sneak in here?

[CompanyFirstSergeant]

33. Bottom line.....

People with very high deductibles are just not going to the doctor.

[Jackie Wilson Said]

34. No, you implied the policy itself covers nothing. Hey, you dislike Obama, got it.

When you allow drumpf to take over, health insurance will have no consumer protections as ACA will be withdrawn.

I hope you dont have a single diagnosed condition, because you wont get coverage if you do

[savalez]

36. Before the ACA it was $5000

And nothing was covered. It's an improvement.

I get my plan from the ACA and it has no deductible and it is way better and less expensive than before the ACA.

Is it free? No. Is it better than before? Yes.

We also have expanded medicare here and a lot of people have free healthcare insurance as a result.

Edit to add that I once did encounter 1 doctor's office that did not take plans purchased off the CoveredCA program. I ultimately had to choose from a list of participating providers. No big deal.

[Leontius]

66. My COBRA ins from former employer cost $400 a month with a $1500 deductible

my new policy is $79 a month with a $200 deductible thru the exchange in my state. I think most of these horror stories about the ACA are bullshit, you just have to do the work to find decent insurance.

[xmas74]

85. Mine is $65, $1500 deductible and

$5 copay. My old one from an employer was $475 a month with $5000 deductible and a $50 copay just at the doctor. My prescription insurance started at $35 for the lowest and went up.

[Hoyt]

82. Actually, it covers a number of preventive services, tests, etc., without coinsurance and

deductibles. It gets you a big discount on physician, hospital, and other services. It gets you in the door of providers who won't take uninsured patients. It has issues, but much better than before.

[Grins]

48. So?

How is that any different from the rest of us?

My Godson just had to get surgery on his shoulder to fix a long-time problem. He's under 26 so he's on his parent's insurance (Thanks, Obama!) plan. They have insurance via their employer - a HUGE corporation.

Cost for his 1-hour operation: $23,000. $19,000 paid by insurance.

They paid the rest as their deductible is $4,000.

[former9thward]

75. What law would allow that?

Plenty of Doctors have been refusing Medicare patients for years.

[Travis_0004]

77. The problem is the plans dont pay enough

I did some accounting work for a doctor. If we worked for free, the plans didnt pay enough to cover his cost for staff and materials. He would lose money by taking ACA patients.

[BeyondGeography]

54. Try getting a serious illness that costs under $3,500

And report back. In NYC, you can spend that much just on anesthesia for a colonoscopy.

[CompanyFirstSergeant]

55. Nothing routine....

...to hopefully prevent a serious illness....

...is covered.

[BeyondGeography]

60. That's a long way from "covers nothing"

Here's a Republican who understands why Obamacare matters:

[Egnever]

62. Hahaha

Have you ever had insurance before? Cause the nonsense you are spouting right now does not indicate you have.

Preventive Services Visit: There is no charge for an office visit when you see your in-network primary care physician (PCP) for a flu vaccine, blood pressure check, an annual physical (for women and children), or any other services considered preventive care under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). You might get a bill if your doctor orders additional tests or performs other services – but covered preventive visits are free. - See more at: https://blog.getinsured.com/answers/health-insurance-basics/cc-office-visits/#sthash.8g6wBIBD.dpuf

[csziggy]

9. It's always been a problem to find providers that take your insurance

When my husband was at the mercy of his employers at to what health insurance they would provide each year our provider went from being in network to not being in network.

Over the fifteen years he worked for the same employer they used 4 or 5 different insurance companies. Our primary care doctor - who we had used for decades - was covered under 2 of them. The other years we had the option of changing doctors or paying out of pocket for a much higher co-pay.

The same thing happened with the employer provided eye care - some years our optometrist was covered, some he was not.

Since we selected providers we liked and we didn't want to change at the whim of the insurance companies, much of the time we paid more but we were lucky enough to afford the extra costs.

Having doctors refuse a particular type of insurance isn't new. The big change is that ACA policies spell out their specifics more completely than many of the old policies so the providers are not able to wiggle out of full coverage.

[stopbush]

10. "we don't take Obamacare?"

How does one know it's Obamacare?

You purchase a policy from Kaiser or UHC or whoever thru Obamacare's exchanges. Nowhere on your health insurance card does it say "Obamacare" or "ACA" or anything that would indicate you got your policy thru Obamacare.

So how in the world would a provider know you got your policy thru Obamacare?

[hack89]

11. Because the policies have unique names that identify them as ACA. nt

Last edited Wed Aug 9, 2017, 02:13 PM - Edit history (1)

[stopbush]

15. Really?

[hack89]

19. I just signed up my daughter for ACA

Each plan offered had a unique name.

[Kilgore]

21. Exactly

We have zero clinics in our county that take o-care plans, but will accept insurance purchased outside of the exchange. The nearest clinic accept o-care plans is 75 miles and two counties away.

[enlightenment]

22. Yes.

Usually the card you carry indicates what sort of plan you have and those plans are uniquely identified either by name, a number, or some combination.

You - as the plan member - may not be aware of it, but it is identifiable to the people deciding whether or not to take the insurance.

[basselope]

25. Yes.

In order to keep my coverage with my doctor I had to buy my plan from the provider DIRECTLY. If I went through the exchange I wouldn't have been covered.

BTW.. the cost to me was identical b/c I wasn't eligible for subsidies; however, WHERE I purchased made all the difference.

[PersonNumber503602]

78. I've been considering doing that myself

but I wasn't too sure if it would matter or not. I would rather not do that, because it seems like something that would add to the problem, but I dunno.

[basselope]

83. Make sure to talk to your provider first.

In my case what happened was UCLA medical was not covering any Blue Shield of CA policies purchased via the exchange. HOWEVER, when I went to their (blue shield's) website and purchased directly (not using covered california) then it was accepted. There is a slight difference in how they code the coverage and how they pay, which is (what I am told) is the reason they weren't accepting the "exchange" coverage, but the identical thing purchased directly from the company was another story.

The cost was identical. Coverage was identical. One was just through the exchange and one was directly through the company website.

BTW.. IF you do this, don't think that adding a dental plan will take away from the need for your policy to have pediatric dental, even if you are getting dental coverage for your kid. Once we found out we were basically paying twice for dental coverage, we opted against it, because it is basically a rip off anyway when bought individually.

[rusty fender]

57. It's true

When I had Blue Cross/Blue Shield before the ACA, everyone accepted it. Later, when I had Blue Cross/Blue Shield through an ACA exchange, many places would not accept it.

I think that that the bigger insurance companies force medical providers to reject Exchange insurance policies in order to undermine the ACA despite the fact that they are acquiring more customers; what they don't want to accept is sick participants. They want the ACA to collapse so that they can go back to excluding customers with pre-existing conditions.

[Egnever]

63. No not really

And you have the option to look at the listing of doctors that accept it before buying the policy.

[ScreamingMeemie]

13. I had to pick a doctor when I signed up.

The only time I have gotten a "We don't take Obamacare" was at a Walgreens pharmacy.

My reply,"Good? I don't have it. I have insurance through the Affordable Care Act."

[ViseGrip]

16. Me too. The day before my 'well visit' they called and said they "left the group".

My ins. co. sent me to another doctor on the list. I went. He made me pay my 25.00 co pay, when my plan said the well visit did not have a copay.

We left with a prescription for our (my hubby too) blood work. The day before our blood work at the assigned lab, we got a call that the doctor has left the group. I said we are in the middle of a visit, and are to now get the blood work. We were told not to go, it would not be covered! By the time we were able to do this....switch doctors and get in, and try to complete the visit with blood work, the year was over! Not one visit completed, and NO BLOOD WORK FOR THE YEAR!

For this, they were given 1000.00 a mo. subsidy for us by the U.S. government. We got nothing. Just a hammer on the knee reflex test, ahhh....look in the throat, blood pressure, etc. But no blood work. So we have to use the community health centers. Again, thank God for Bernie's foresight into this problem. We now have enough community health centers.

Also know, I tried and tried to talk to ANYONE in my congressional office regarding the doctor shortage, and NO ONE TAKING THESE PLANS. Crickets....and now he's running to be a U.S. senator.
He only does photo ops at veteran memorials.....and they have the VA. Older american's have Medicare. Poor people have Medicaid. Everyone in the large middle? We don't really have shit.

[ViseGrip]

17. Biggest problem now is the 'out of network' scenarios for emergency trips to the hospital!

Oh....you go in with an emergency. But none of the doctors on staff that day are in your network, even though your hospital is.

You need a heart bypass and no one can wait! You are knocked out!
The doctor is not in your network? One won't be here for two days??

are you fucking kidding me? they are now trying to tell this story on TV! In the first or second new episode of Frankie and Grace they bring this issue into the light!

[randr]

24. The millions of self employed are left out and pay a huge premium

I am lucky to be on my wife's insurance through her work, the independent contractors who work for me are shit out of luck as I would be if not for my wife.

[ErikJ]

84. Yes for self-employed its always been a problem

I looked for health insurance as self employed in the 80's and it was such a joke. My dad was an MD so I could always fall back on him to "trade" services with another doctor. But it was getting time to have my own and they were just awful. Luckily I was healthy enough to never need it any. But I did get a skin cancer removed for free just out of a misdiagnosis fluke in '92.
Obamacare did make it better but the 2nd year the cost skyrocketed but I went on the state health plan because I am now taking a few years off and moving with zero income.

[tonyt53]

32. They did it to themselves. They bought less expensive policies that were junk

And that is a fact. They did it to themselves. My son did the same thing, even though I advised him not to.

[truebluegreen]

44. Or, they bought less expensive policies that they could afford

with or without subsidies. That is at least as much of a fact. Victim blame much?

[fbc]

50. Isn't Obamacare supposed to screen out junk plans?

[JCMach1]

35. Why we need single-payer, not managed care...

Capitalism doesn't work when 'choice' never really enters the equation.

[silverweb]

46. Absolutely right.

[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]Many doctors and healthcare professionals support a single-payer, universal system, as well. See PNHP.

[taught_me_patience]

39. BCBS Covered California plans are paying 20% less than comparable plans

20% less revenue can easily amount to 50-60% less pay. Who wants to do the same amount of work for half the pay? My wife is a primary care private practice and takes covered california plans. It's been a big negative impact to our income and we've been talking about her not taking it in the near future.

[Omaha Steve]

40. Obama didn't push public option

Now his legacy is unfunded and falling apart.

He didn't even try on The Employee Free Choice Act!

[annabanana]

89. I thought it was Joe Lieberman who sunk the public option..

In fact, I'm pretty sure. . . .

[Omaha Steve]

90. Ben Nelson & Lincoln too

And Obama then campaigned FOR Lincoln.

[Gene Debs]

42. "The goal of the Affordable Care Act, which took effect in 2013, was to provide

insurance to tens of millions of uninsured or under-insured Americans..."

Bullshit. The goal of the Affordable Care Act was to provide the illusion of actually doing something about the disastrous health care system in this country while making sure to leave the insurance cartels in control of the whole situation.

[LibDemAlways]

43. The plans offered on the California Exchange are

largely crap. Ridiculously high premiums, co-pays, and deductibles and access to limited provider networks.

A hospital stay for a person with the lousy silver plan could easily bankrupt him. A relative's few hours in the ER of the local hospital set him back 5K out of pocket. It's a huge racket, and there's nothing remotely affordable about it.

[flamingdem]

79. The Silver Plan pays 90% and there is an Out of Pocket Max that is probably a few thousand

for most people. Talking about individual insurance for one person,

For me it's 100% better than what I had before.

Before Anthem charged me 350 a month and my deductible was 6500.

Now I pay 200 something and have a very low deductible, copay, and low out of pocket.

If you compare to what there was before it is a huge improvement.

[LibDemAlways]

91. That wasn't my relative's experience. His premium was over $600

a month. He just missed the cutoff for a subsidy. One medical emergency set him back 5K for the ER, and another $2800 for non covered ambulance services. I know because I helped him pay the bills.

I stand by my remark. Covered California is crap.

[flamingdem]

92. Ouch. I am in denial about Emergency Room costs, not sure what mine would be

I stand by my remark for me personally - and for anyone with a pre-existing condition - however I recognize and wrote below that this insurance is very pricey for middle class incomes.

Without a subsidy it's really expensive and on a par with the garbage insurance I had before Obamacare.

[Andy823]

45. That does not make sense

I buy through Washington states Health plan finder site. You fill out the information, our location, and the only plans that come up are for your area. There are numerous insurance company plans to choose from. I checked, on the site, to see if the plan I wanted was accepted by my local doctors, and hospital, it was so I bought it. I have never had one problem getting in to see a doctor.

The only thing I can get out of this is that they might not have been with an issuance company, but with the a Medicaid plan that some doctors won't accept. My daughter is on the Washington state Apple care that is a Medicaid plan, but I made sure to check to see if our local doctors, clinics, and hospitals accepted it and the all did.

[silverweb]

47. That's because Washington State chose to do it that way.

[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]Many other states let the insurance companies write the rules - and the rules are written on a state-by-state basis. That's why we need a federally administered universal, single-payer system.

[Egnever]

61. It's a BS article

You can look up the plans on the exchange yourself and they are exactly the same in new york.

Here is a listing of doctors that take one of the plans available on the exchange within 30 miles of 10001 zip code. https://provider.careconnect.com/provider-result/?category=15&specialty=55&zip=10001&zipcode_radius=30&submit=Go

There are 5 pages of general practitioners.

This article is a con job.

[PersonNumber503602]

76. It's not BS at all.

It seems pretty common in some places (where I'm from at least) for doctors to not accept insurance that people purchased from the exchanges. The insurance website may list doctors as being in their network, but the doctors are allowed to decide if they are accepting new patients from that plan or not. My doctor right now wouldn't have seen me with my current insurance if I wasn't already a patient of his. I'm currently in the process of trying to find a new job just so I can get into an employer provided plans. It's pretty messed up that people feel the need to do that. If that doesn't pan out, I'm going to do some more research into how it works to private plans outside of the exchanges and if that would help. This isn't a rant against ACA, but just a statement of fact that it needs to be addressed. I fear that if we don't take action to fix it, then that will give the republicans a way in to destroy it completely, and thus put us back to where we were before. Bring back the "good ol' days" of pre-existing conditions denials and making medical care inaccessible to tens of millions.

[Thespian2]

49. Unfortunately for Americans,

the ACA did very little to deliver adequate health care to the people...Insurance corporations still control the gates of health care...as long as insurance corps and big pharma control the dispensation of health care, Americans will be stuck with a very flawed system...And remember, the wealthy 1% don't give a shit about the health of the 99%...

[Victor_c3]

51. There lies one of my biggest complaints about Obamacare

It didn't go far enough.

Decent quality healthcare should be available to all of our nation's citizens regardless of a means to pay for it. Even if you aren't a citizen and you are contributing to our nation or our economy you should be entitled to it too.

[whereisjustice]

52. We'll fix it later. Like Hillary. eom

[Cryptoad]

65. another RWNJ

propagating another false attack on Democrats..... obviously the only problems seems to be that there are too many people who do not have enough sense to buy their own health insurance or grasp the fact that ACA is not a insurnace plan. 30 million working poor who for the first time can afford health insurance like it. can it be improved on ,,,, yes. but I know it sure beats the GOP Plan = "Hurry up and die" and the Bull Shit Bern plan that taxes people living in poverty..... no wonder Bern lost to Hillary.

[Vinca]

68. "Obamacare" is private insurance.

You get a private insurance card, not an "Obamacare" card. This sounds like BS. None of the doctors I went to when I was on it would have known whether it was "Obamacare" or an insurance card issued by an employer.

[alarimer]

71. I smell a bogus story.

First of all, none of these policies are called "Obamacare". They are Blue Cross, United Health Care, or whatever. And yes, sometimes it might be hard to find doctors because the plans' coverage is so limited, But I'm willing to bet none of them used the word "Obamacare."

[flamingdem]

80. I agree. In my area at first not all doctors took it but later they had to

due to contracts with the insurance companies.

Anyone who tells you it's not an improvement isn't living in reality.

For one thing pre-existing conditions weren't covered before and deductibles were huge for larger premium prices.

I think it's not a good deal for a middle income earner however. Better to be low income for affordability.

[PersonNumber503602]

81. They will know if the plan was purchased off the exchanges

Whether or not the doctors call it obamacare is irrelevant. Doctors are saying that the exchange plans do not pay out as much, and that is why they limit the number of or refuse certain policies purchased from the exchanges. While I've heard of some right-wing doctors denying exchange/obamacare policies due to political BS, I believe the vast majority do it because the insurance companies are making it less appealing for doctors to accept patients with those plans.

Two obvious partial bandaid solutions might be to ensure insurance companies payout the same regardless of where the plan was purchases, or to force doctors to take new patients regardless of their insurance type. I'm sure most would agree the former is the better of the ideas. Although a single payer or public option is the ultimate solution, I think.

[dilby]

86. Doesn't their insurance have a list of doctors who accept their plan?

I know my insurance company does, if I call them up and tell them what I need they give me a list of doctors to choose from in my area. If I just pulled out the phone book and started calling I would probably get the same results as this woman. Sounds like she just wants to complain for no reason and insurance worked like this before, not every doctor took every insurance company.